LAND COMPLEXITY HINDERS PRODUCTION: PM SOGAVARE
Prime Minister and MP for East Choiseul Manasseh Sogavare. Photo credit: Parliament.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare says the complexity of land mobilisation in Solomon Islands restricts the availability of production.
Mr. Sogavare made the statement during his keynote address to officially open the Solomon Islands National Lands Conference in Honiara today.
He said Solomon Islands as a sovereign nation, is systematically losing the capacity to sustain an acceptable level of economic growth, saying it is under utilizing its potentials.
Prime Minister Sogavare says it is very important for Solomon Islands to minimize the effects of any arrangement that restricts the availability of land by tackling it head on.
“Solomon Islands must be convinced that the only option left is to grow on the basis of trade and specialisation. This will not be possible without increased economic mobilisation of land in a predominantly subsistence Solomon Islands as in other developing countries is relatively inelastic in supply, compared to neighbouring countries and therefore it is absolutely important for Solomon Islands to minimize the effects of any arrangements that restricts the availability of land by tackling it head on.”
The Prime Minister adds, land reform is among the most important priorities of the Democratic Coalition for Change (DCC) Government for many reasons, adding the Solomon Islands National Lands Conference was timely.